Jimmy Carter Creates Solar Farm To Power Half Of His City

In 1979, the former president had 32 solar panels installed atop the White House, but his successor had them removed.

Former President Jimmy Carter leased 10 acres of land to install a solar panel farm capable of providing half of the energy needed for his hometown. Perhaps ahead of his time, Carter began looking to solar energy during his presidency and in 1979 had 32 solar panels installed on the White House roof.

Those panels no longer set atop the presidential residence, but Carter is still working toward renewable energy.

In 1979, in the throes of the U.S. energy crisis, then President Jimmy Carter addressed the nation as he installed 32 solar panels designed to use the Sun’s energy to heat water. He told the country, “A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”

Solar panels might not have gained momentum as Carter would have preferred, but he is doing his part to keep the trend going. In The former president leased 10 acres of land in Plains, Georgia to set up a solar panel farm. The project was completed in February by SolAmerica and will be capable of supplying more than half of his hometown's energy needs.

“Distributed, clean energy generation is critical to meeting growing energy needs around the world while fighting the effects of climate change,” Carter said in a SolAmerica press release. “I am encouraged by the tremendous progress that solar and other clean energy solutions have made in recent years and expect those trends to continue.”